Three Nigerian journalists, Taiwo Adebayo, Ibrahim Adeyemi and Kabir Adejumo have been shortlisted for Thomson Foundation 2020 Young Journalist Award.
The trio was shortlisted alongside nine other journalists across the world for the highly coveted journalism prize.
Both Adebayo and Adejumo are senior investigative journalists with the Premium Times. Adeyemi is a freelance investigative journalist with Business Day Nigeria.
Thomson Foundation while reeling out the names of the journalists said that they were made public on World News Day, to highlight just why #JournalismMatters.
Thomson Foundation said the shortlist was arrived at from among 200 entries from across 55 countries because their works not only “speak up for the marginalised, expose abuses of power among the political elite and focus on social injustices – but also look to promote social cohesion and working towards a healthy civil society.”
Entries submitted by the shortlisted journalists captured Brazil’s record year of police killings, the Peruvian children suffering from lead poisoning, the Indian women taking their own lives and the COVID-19 lockdowns imperilling Kenya’s street children.
Thomson Foundation noted on its website that “this year’s Young Journalist Award shortlist has highlighted the power of journalism to save lives, build trust and spark change via an impressively diverse range of stories.”
The annual Thomson Foundation award, supported by the UK’s Foreign Press Association (FPA), has been searching for talent from around the world for the past eight years.